Battle of Alagir
"You foolish King...you should have stayed in your cozy little castle." The Battle of Alagir is an important battle in the Shadow Wars between Woestijn and Stin Cepel. It is where King Victor IV was struck down and killed, paving the way for the rule of his daughter, Queen Ana II. It occurred in 449 B.C. (before the Harbinger Coup). Setup The combined Orc-Human armies of Woestijn had easily taken over the Foothills region of Stin Cepel. They were making their way north, towards Alagir and the Planewalker Mountains, in an attempt to establish presence in all of western Stin Cepel. They faced little opposition on their way. Meanwhile, King Victor IV, by all accounts a lazy man and a bad king, got the idea in his head that he would travel to Alagir and defeat them in glorious battle. No one really knows why he thought he could accomplish this; the King was, by all accounts, a less-than-stellar warrior who much preferred to drink wine than fight. Some believe it was a rogue advisor who put the idea in his head; others point to his record of unpredictable behavior; some fringe historians believe that it was Ana II herself who convinced her father to go, whether to assure her ascent to the throne or as an honest piece of advice. Nevertheless, the King decided to take his army into battle. The Battle The King was met in the fields to the south of Alagir by a representative of Woestijn. He gave the King a chance to surrender both the battle and the kingdom. The King flatly refused, and set up a grand war camp as a symbol to Woestijn of the might of Stin Cepel. There were a few things wrong with that. First off, the army of Stin Cepel was not that mighty at the time; Woestijn's armies were larger, better trained, and more focused. This was evident in the second problem - the King and most of his men got incredibly drunk the night before the battle, which almost certainly affected their fighting the next day. The battle itself was practically over before it started. Woestijn's army, disciplined, focused, and ready, cut through the loose army of Stin Cepel like a hot knife through milk. The battle was over within 30 minutes. King Victor had been impaled during the fighting, by whom, no one was quite sure. But when the armies of Woestijn put his head on a spike, it sent a clear message to the retreating enemy: do not underestimate us. Aftermath The Battle of Alagir was a low point for Stin Cepel. There was a very real fear that this would mean the end of the Kingdom. Their army had just been decimated and they had a 17 year old Queen with no experience. However, their fortunes would soon turn. Queen Ana II proved to be a decisive and strong ruler, and while with the army she had she knew she could not win outright, she used guile and frustration tactics to slow down the advance of Woestijn. This culminated in her deal with Jenova, and the rest is history. Category:Shadow Wars Category:Stin Cepel Category:Woestijn Category:History Category:Ana II Category:Jenova